What is The Fastest and Safest Way to Lose Weight

Losing Weight - Fast and Safe

As we grow older our bodies slow down and if you are anything like me you begin to notice your body shape changing...

Most days, I ask myself, 'how can I lose weight?' especially when I allow myself to really see what I look like in the mirror.

This may be your question, "What is the fastest and safest way to lose weight?"

The answer is relatively simple, but unfortunately not so easy to implement...otherwise it would not be an issue, no-one would need to lose weight.

Let's look at some of the things that cause weight gain in order to understand how to lose it again.

Lose Weight - Change What You Eat

So how do we gain weight to begin with?

Some of the things that affect how we put on weight are the food we eat, how much we eat and when we eat.

If we are eating healthy whole foods such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean meat and fish we are more likely to be a natural weight for our build and height.

When we add in 'foods' such as sugar, flour and fats we begin to add in intense food fuels that the body may or may not need at that time and so it does the next best thing. It stores it for later when it could be needed.

It's a bit like a bank account, if you deposit your funds but withdrew less than you deposit, you will very quickly build a BIG bank balance and your funds will go up.

The same happens with stored food (fat).

The same goes for how much you eat; again, whatever you do not use at the time will be stored for a later time when it might be needed.

If you eat when you are not hungry or late at night (when your next activity is sleep) then you will most likely store this food rather than use it.

So, when you want to lose weight fast and safely, change what you eat and the way you eat.

Lose Weight - Change What You Do

Check your lifestyle...do you work sitting at a desk most of the day, and then go home and after tea watch some TV before going to bed? Do you do this at least five times a week and then don't do too much on the weekend either?

Our bodies were never designed to sit for extended periods of time...we are meant to be relatively active and doing things.

So what can you do if your job requires a large amount of inactivity?

Some of the things I do now to help with this -

- Use the stairs instead of the lift - if you can't climb the stairs to begin with, at least walk down them each time.

- Go for a half hour walk at lunch time, after lunch.

- If you have an exercycle, cycle during your favorite program. If you don't have an exercycle you could walk on the spot instead.

- Join a gym and go at least three times a week and do some weight building exercises as well as aerobic exercises - more muscle burns food faster.

- Do Pilates and build your abs by doing ab crunches on a Swiss ball. Strong abs support a healthy back.

- If you can, use a Swiss ball to sit on instead of a chair. The Swiss ball encourages active sitting where the core muscles in your tummy region are constantly firing to balance yourself.

- Go for a walk after tea - and if you have children, you can use that time to talk with each other about your day.

This list is not exhaustive and I am sure that if you use your imagination, you can come up with other things you can do to increase your levels of daily activity.

The two important things here are:

Make it FUN and ~ DO it!

Fastest and Safest Way to Lose Weight?

The fastest and safest way to lose weight is by changing what you eat and what you do.

There is no instant or fast weight loss method that won't harm your health, and the safest way to lose weight is gradually, by undoing all the bad, unhealthy habits you have developed over time which caused the weight gain in the first place.

Remember when you were a child?

You ate when you were hungry and you tended to eat food you could hold in your hand like fruit or sandwich. More importantly, you were on the go all the time ~ you would squat to look at a bug crawling on the ground, you would run after your brother or sister in a game of chasing, you would climb on the jungle gym, you would play in the bath or swim at the local school pool.... You were active most of the time!

Whole foods and what are called low G.I. foods (slow energy release) are better for you, but unfortunately we have developed cravings for sweet or fatty foods, and the question is, how much do we need foods like that?

The answer is we don't! So these foods should be treated as 'treats' and not foods that we need or should eat on a regular basis.

This is the hard bit. Changing our eating habits. (If this is too difficult, then the other solution is to burn it by building muscle) The best way is to combine good diet with good activity levels and build and tone muscle.

The solution is simple, it is the 'doing' that is difficult.

But, when you have succeeded in changing the components of your daily diet, you will feel the benefits each day in a renewed sense of a 'joy of living' and a body that feels lighter and more energetic...